Don't Panic

19.04.2018

Last year's residency was a real validation of why we started Pustnik. It's always great to get away from the city, with its never-ending stream of distractions, and as ever we benefited from the isolated environment at Port Cetate. Some of our writers adopted the daily mantra "ah, the serenity!" delivered in a thick Australian accent.

But what really struck us was the honesty and generosity of the conversations. By the first evening we were already diving headfirst into our shared experiences of imposter syndrome, creative frustration, soul-crushing deadlines, and general existential dread -- the fun stuff. Of course we were laughing the whole way through, attacking our inner fears together with the same sense of curiosity and play that made us want to be filmmakers in the first place. We found comfort in our shared anxieties and gave each other courage to buck up and keep writing.

The great British writer Douglas Adams deemed one simple phrase to be the greatest advice you could possibly receive anywhere in the universe, which he printed on the cover of his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; and it's this motto we've adopted as the theme for Pustnik 2018: DON'T PANIC.

In 2018 we're looking for screenwriters who are excited by the prospect of putting their panic on hold for a week and using this time to share, listen, and write prolifically. To be a filmmaker is to express the thrill of being human, and it's our primary goal to create an environment where we can all reconnect with what that means -- diving deep into the joyful, the terrifying, the ridiculous and the sublime. Ah, the serenity.